Full Contact - Light Contact - No Contact

[RJRKihap]

Our TKD school teaches non contact sparing with the notion that contact will lead to injuries which will lead to less training and eventually dropping out. I agree with this in principle but I feel that some good can come out of actually being hit (knowing what it will feel like and how you will react) and hitting.

 

Anyone with any thoughts?

[JerryLove]

From my thread http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=7005&start=0

 

There are many discussions, at present and in the past, on various aspects of sparring minutia. I'm gonna talk a bit about the varois general strategies, what I feel they offer, and what they limit.

 

Light Contact:

 

Light contact sparring is where one spars at full speed but "pulls the punch", that is to say that control is exercised to avoid putting force into the target. This is pretty common in Japanese arts.

 

Advantages include:

 

The ability to use a wide array of techniques in practice without injuring your partner.

 

The ability to move at speed and react to someone moving at speed.

 

Disadvantages include:

 

The limiting of many techniques which cannot, by nature, be pulled.

 

A limit on what and how much resistance an opponent can offer.

 

The lack of an understanding of hitting and being hit.

 

The training of the bad habit "pull the punch" (commiting the wrong actions to muscle memory"

 

Limited Rules

 

Common in the grapplig arts, this strategy allows opponents to go at near-full speed and with power by severely limiting dangerous techniques and relying on a level of control to "stop" when injury is about to occur.

 

Advantages include:

 

The ability to work at near combat levels with resisting opponents.

 

A gravity dynamic (IE how hard it is to stay up or escape) very true-to life.

 

A realistic sense of trying to apply something to someone who doesn't want it applied.

 

The ability to fight in realistic attire.

 

Disadvantages include:

 

The restriction of certain techniques (anything from fish-hooks to knee kicks).

 

The neccessairy de-emphasis of other common techniques (striking).

 

The likely reliance on some level of padding (I've yet to see this done on standard hardwood or concrete floors)

 

Pad up and go

 

In this strategy, the combatitants attempt to armor their more vunerable areas to allow a higher level of striking. Otherwise, it's very similar to Light contact

 

Advantages Include:

 

Ability to work at speed and reasonably power against resisting opponent.

 

Less bad habit of pulling than light contact.

 

Disadvantages include:

 

Unrealistic abilities and inabilities cause by padding.

 

Unrealistic understandings of damage inflicted and recieved due to padding.

 

A limitation of availiable techniques similar to Light Contact[/b] due to teh limitations of padding.

 

Slow motion sparring

 

Slow motion sparring, done most often in Chinese arts, relies on a control of speed. Combatatiants fight, but at a snails pace.

 

Advantages include:

 

An almost unlimited availability of techniques.

 

The ability to work against a resisting opponent.

 

The ability to "think while fighting" to improve on mistakes.

 

The ability to perform a technique as you would in a fight.

 

Disadvantages include:

 

A lack of exposure to the timing and effect of speed.

 

A lower "fear coctail" level than other sparring methods.

 

An unrealistic understanding of one's ability to respond to sudden changes.

 

So, to address the question that caused me to start this thread... "which do you do". I primarily spar with "slow motion sparring". If prefer the ability to train proper muscle memory, and the ability to employ, and get used to dealing with, an unlimited variety of attacks.

 

We've found that the considered actions of sparring become reflexes and do work at speed even when practiced slowly. Further, that's the one methos that truely allows you to floow-through, even agains sensitive targets... and proper reflexes have served better than most other things we've seen.

 

I've done every method listed above... and I certainly like hitting the others from time-to-time as part of a reality check... but for normal use, I consider slow-motion sparring superior to the other options.

[Hybrid]

Contact sparring doesn't always mean "getting seriously hurt." Most schools use headgear, mouthpiece, groin protector (for guys) and gloves (possibly more like shin guards etc). I think a bigger question is, what do YOU prefer? Personally, I prefer full contact. No contact or point sparring is just not practical in my eyes.

[RJRKihap]

I've only been exposed to No Contact sparing. I am concerned that since I have very little worry about being "hit" I am more willing to try high kicks, spinning kicks, jumping kicks, etc since the worst that will happen is my partner will score a point on me. I'm wondering that if I knew I could get "hit" would my choice of techniques be different? I am also somewhat concerned that I would “freeze up” in a real life situation. My Hapkido training is a bit more realistic but still very safe and controlled.

 

Any input would be great.

 

Ron

[delta1]

I've only been exposed to No Contact sparing. I am concerned that since I have very little worry about being "hit" I am more willing to try high kicks, spinning kicks, jumping kicks, etc since the worst that will happen is my partner will score a point on me. I'm wondering that if I knew I could get "hit" would my choice of techniques be different?

 

I think you are right to be concened about that. The best example I've seen was working out with some FMA types. They did FULL contact with sticks. They usually used padded sticks, and those hurt like ****! But sometimes they go 'live stick', where they use unpadded sticks. Everyone is noticably more timid against the real deal. They don't take nearly as many chances or try as many new and different moves. It's the same with hard contact sparing, though the pads take some of the force. If you have a partner you trust and you both have good control, try fighting with only a mouthguard and cup, and maybe a pair of Kenpo or UFC type gloves (light padding, fingers free for open hand techs and grabs). But moderate your force so as to not permanently dammage each other. And I'm seriouse- you really have to trust your partners control (mental and physical), his character, and his judgement. He also has to trust you. Spar for learning, not to 'win', and you aren't as likely to take the questionable shot. Not saying don't try to win, just that it shouldn't be your primary focus. Enjoy!

[hajime]

I think full contact without padding is dangerous.

 

The way my instructors did sparring was based on the simple fact that Karate strikes aim to disable or even kill and are delivered to specific areas of the body.

 

(eyes, throat, solar plexus, groin, knee being the most obvious)

 

practising such moves at full power and speed without padding could not be justified by them.

 

Light padding, no strikes to groin, knee or throat, medium power was our practise method.

 

sure you can say this way is a joke/unrealistic if you want.

 

Who wants painful injury from sparring?

 

for the military it's justified.

[TJS]

I think people who have never spared with any level of contact will likely curl up in fetal position and recieve a beating in a real fight

[hajime]

I think people who have never spared with any level of contact will likely curl up in fetal position and recieve a beating in a real fight

 

for sure. How could you ever think you could fight someone if you weren't prepared to get hit?

 

Personally nothing winds me up as much as getting smacked in the mouth especially.

 

if anyone does this they had better knock me out otherwise I'll hit them back far harder I hope anyway

[The Saint]

We use lots of pading and our training is excellent. When we spar is is medium contact for senior belts because it just hurts if you go hard at each other all the time.It also leads to injury if you go real hard at each other. Other days it's like a game of tag, where we work on speed and control with no power. Mixing all the different forms of sparing is definatly good though. It all depends on the instructor, how he/she handles the club.

[theswarm]

Sparring with less experienced people teaches you how to take a punch when you don't guard yourself properly and take a nice one straight to your jaw

 

I usually encourage people to attack my body at a good amount of force, i'm not too big on being hit in the face full force but i've copped it from a few people and nowadays i barely flinch unless it's someone really big and strong